Travel Tips

With a computer as portable as the Kellogg laptop, you'll be taking it off campus a lot, whether it's just for the weekend or for summer break. Some important trips:

Tips

• When flying, never check your laptop!
  Carry it on instead. As you've no doubt noticed by the condition of your luggage after it reappears on the baggage claim carousel, the baggage handlers don't exactly treat every piece of baggage with the utmost care. It only takes a short drop or something moderately heavy being thrown on top of a laptop to break the LCD panel. Laptops are also temperature sensitive and could be damaged by prolonged exposure to the cold temperatures typical in a cargo hold.
• Be careful using hotel phone jacks.
  Before plugging your modem into a hotel phone jack, ask the front desk whether it's safe. Many hotels use digital phone systems, which operate at a higher voltage than regular phone systems. These digital phone lines will fry your modem, and IBM probably won't cover the damage under warranty. To be doubly safe, consider buying a line tester — a tool that makes sure the phone line won't fry your modem.
• Carry your laptop in a padded bag.
  This is a good idea in general, but an especially good one while travelling.
• Add your laptop to your renters or homeowners insurance.
  Many renters or homeowners policies will cover the loss of a personal laptop, but you may need to pay extra to add it to your policy. Contact your insurance agent for details. If you don't have renters or homeowners insurance yet, it's amazingly affordable for the pain it could save you.

Frequently Asked Questions

We get a lot of questions related to how you can use your laptop while off-campus. Those questions, and the answers, follow, broken into several sections: Connecting to the Internet, hardware repair, and travel abroad.

Connecting to the Internet / Kellogg on-line resources

Can I still dial into Kellogg?

Unfortunately as of August 2005 the central modem pools have been retired. For more information, see NUIT's modem reference page here.

Do you have Internet Service Provider (ISP) recommendations?

We strongly encourage students not to use America Online because it does not peacefully co-exist with other network settings. Aside from that note of caution, we recommend students needing a dial-up access provider while out of the Chicago area go with a national ISP, such as Earthlink or Speakeasy.

I can't send mail when I'm not on the NU network. Why not?

See the KIS How-To Docs for details.

Hardware Repair

Your Kellogg Laptop comes with a three-year, worldwide warranty. In the United States, Lenovo's technical support hotline is 800-426-7378. If your computer requires a repair, Lenovo will send a DHL driver to your home or business with a padded box in which you will return the laptop. The box might arrive the same day, but it will probably come the next business day. The box includes an inventory sheet you'll need to fill out, as well as a DHL airbill. Lenovo will cover all shipping charges.

If you require service while outside the United States, Lenovo/IBM's web site has a directory of phone numbers by country you can use to find a local phone number to call.

You'll need to have your computer's type and serial number handy. All can be found on the bottom of your laptop.

Using Your Laptop Outside the United States

Your laptop's power adapter will handle the voltage in most countries—anything between 100 and 240 volts alternating current (AC) will work. You will, however, need to buy an adapter so that you can plug the power adapter into a wall outlet. These are available through Radio Shack in downtown Evanston and through TeleAdapt.

Connecting your modem to foreign phone systems is a little trickier. Phone system dialing tones vary from country to country and some foreign phone systems operate at higher voltages that could fry the modem card. To use your modem abroad, you may need to buy an adapter, and should use a line tester to protect your modem. TeleAdapt has a full line of phone and power adapters.